Post-Game Quotes
Gregg Popovich
On if he was pleased with the win - Wins are always good. There has never been a bad win.
When asked both teams were almost even in rebounds, was that a key tonight - It’s always a key when you play Minnesota. They’re of a rebounding team, especially on the offensive end. It was good to do a better job then we have in the past on the board. Our defense in the fourth quarter saved our butts, especially down the stretch. Offensively I thought we were sloppy. We didn’t move the ball well. I think we held the ball too much; we turned it over. We played poorly on the offensive end, but you have to give our guys credit for hanging in and continuing to play on the defensive end. Minnesota has been tough for us. As far as I’m concerned they’re 24 and 6 or something. They play their butts off and they run good stuff. Kurt (Rambis) has got them disciplined and they’re doing a great job. It’s going to turn for them. I’m just thrilled that we got away from them again.
On Antonio McDyess’s play on Kevin Love - He (Antonio McDyess) did the best job of anybody on Kevin (Love). He rebounded, offensively he was solid. He does a good job in that regard, so I wanted him out on the floor.
Matt Bonner
On what he did to stop the Timberwolves - Everything. With Kevin Love, he’s probably the best rebounder in the league and he starts early. He anticipates when his teammate is going to shoot it, he anticipates where the ball’s going to come off, he’s strong. He’s an ox, long arms, wide body, good timing, it’s really hard to keep him off the boards. My approach is to push him as early and often as possible to try to keep him out of the paint and even then, a lot of times it doesn’t work.
On Antonio McDyess’s play on Kevin Love - Antonio is probably the only guy on our team that can match [Kevin Love’s] strength and do a good job of pushing him and keeping him out of the paint. He showed it tonight.
On why the Timberwolves are a tough matchup - They’re a lot better than their record indicates. They’re young, talented, athletic, pretty much all of them can shoot threes. They play really hard on defense. To me, it’s only a matter of time before they turn it around based on how they play us at least. They play hard on both sides of the ball. We’ve had our hands full trying to get our three wins against them this year and it’s going to be even harder to get that fourth next game. They play us tough, they’re better than their record indicates, and we’re going to have to bring it if we want to try to get that fourth win on Tuesday.
Gary Neal
Opening statement - It wasn’t easy for us. It was close coming down the stretch. They have a unique personnel because they have those bigs with [Darko] Milicic and [Kevin] Love and it allows them to stay in it and compete every game. That was showing again tonight.
On the offense tonight - We want our cornerstone to be defense and tonight our defense and key rebounds in the fourth quarter allowed us to win the game. Offensively, you’re not going to score 120 points every night as much as you would like to, it’s just not going to happen. Our backbone is defense and if we can play that every night, we have a chance.
On if he imagined playing so much when he joined the team - Not really. To be honest with you, I was probably at the beginning of the season the fifth guard on the depth chart, so if you do the math, the fifth guard doesn’t play a lot. I think I got maybe 18 to 20 minutes tonight and I was able to contribute. It always feels good when you’re able to step on the floor and help your team win games. I’m just hoping I can consistently do that.
On if he’s comfortable playing in big moments in the fourth quarter - It’s not something I feel uncomfortable with. Me being on the floor at the end of the game allows Manu [Ginobili], Tony [Parker], and Tim [Duncan] more room to operate because on the scouting report it says ‘Gary Neal’s a shooter, so you have to be aware of him.’” I’m comfortable on the court at the end of the game and I know my role on the court is to make shots and help us win.
Kurt Rambis
On overall assessment of play - We did a pretty good job. We kept our turnovers down, relatively, the cost of turnovers. We did a pretty good job on the boards but gave up some costly second chance points to them. We need to find a way in these types of situations to play defense without fouling because ultimately they got several of their points from the free throw line. So we need to do a much better job in that area. We need to lessen their free throw line appearances and we need to be aggressive enough to get to the free throw line.
On when they think they will finally come through against the Spurs - We are close. We are there. We will get over the hump, and we will find a way.
On one more opportunity against the Spurs - We have a compe ive group, a very spirited group so we will figure it out.
On the effect of losing (Michael) Beasley - It hurt losing him. He is an integral part of our offense. He is someone we get the ball to. He is a difficult cover for most teams but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Corey (Brewer) did a really good job defensively tonight and he had a huge impact on the ball game. I thought our guys played well. Their defense is solid, so we couldn’t find ways a lot of times to score which is the hallmark of their team. Even when they aren’t scoring, they don’t make you score. We are normally a pretty good shooting team but we didn’t shoot as well as we are capable of shooting.
Luke Ridnour
On when they will come through against the Spurs - It seems like we’re battling, battling and battling, especially on the road against these guys. Like we’ve been talking about all along, it’s just a couple of little things here and there. An offensive rebound here, not making the turnover there, and we can win these games. Everyone is competing really hard and I think this thing is going to turn around eventually.
On making a better effort than the last couple of games - We’ve competed. In the Portland game we got down pretty big, but that’s been about the only one. We understand for us to win we have to play defense and guys are working hard and buying into that. That’s what we have to do.
On getting the shots they want - I thought I had a pretty good look towards the end and I just didn’t knock that one down. We ran the same play at the end again and they switched on the pick. It was a tough shot and unfortunately it didn’t go down.
On what they were looking for that final play - We were just going to run a pick-and-roll and come off and see what was there. They switched on the pick because they knew we needed the three. It was tough to try to get something when they’re playing the three-point line. It doesn’t come down to that though, it’s throughout the whole game. We were right there.
On missing Beasley after the injury - He’s a guy that can create shots and score. It always helps to have him out there. This is NBA basketball and that stuff happens. Other guys stepped up.
Kevin Love
On when they will come through against the Spurs - Tuesday.
On getting the Spurs again in 48 hours - Why not? We came close three out of three times now. Hopefully the fourth time will be it for us.
On it being a different game if a couple of their tips would have fallen - No question. If we don’t make stupid fouls. If a couple thing go our way. I’ve said this all along about the Spurs. They just find a way to win. They’re extremely well-coached.
On tonight being a better effort than their last few games - It definitely was, especially from a turnover aspect. We only had 11 turnovers. That was great, especially against a team like the Spurs. I’m very happy about it, but at the same time not happy because of the loss.
On being frustrated being this close against the Spurs - It’s pretty frustrating because we match up pretty well against them. We’ve taken them to three very tight games and an overtime game. We have one on Tuesday so hopefully we don’t sulk on this.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/gameday/110109.html
Last edited by duncan228; 01-10-2011 at 12:05 AM.
Dear Pop:
They're 9-29, the third worst team in the league... It's no accident they've that dismal record. The reason they look like a 24-6 team against us without their second best player for pretty much the entire second half is that our defense can't stop anybody.
PS: Thanks for playing Antonio tonight, so Love at least didn't have another career night.
That's it?
This letter is weak.
You can write your own, tbh
wasn't flawless, but i'll take allowing 39% from the floor 10 times out of 10 - that's well below minny's average.
Too close for comfort, being that we were at home at all.
I'll take every win though.
The reason we almost gave up the game, isn't because the T-pups match up so well against us, it's because of the Spurs mental mistakes, don't believe me? 17 turnovers is the proof in the pudding. 17 TO's, now that is just sloppy. Usually, the team with 17 TO's is the team that lost, so what does that say about the T-pups? I like Kevin Love's unrealistic enthusiasm, but they are NOT going to win on Tuesday, because his play is not enough to "get over the hump".
i didn't get to see this game, but the last few times i saw the two teams i was very impressed with Ronny Brewer's defense. he has Bruce Bowen defensive potential. he was all over Manu.
Too many to's...would have won by much more otherwise. We aren't going to be this sloppy on Tuesday.....I hope.
You were so impressed that you didn't know his actual name..
Minny is a decent team with a terrible record, if they keep this group together they'll be making the playoffs in 2-3 years.
This time offense was more of a problem than defense. Smoother ball movement will be necessary tuesday night ...
Agree, D was fine yesterday, but a lot of TOs killed our O and the flow of the game
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